Monday, December 5, 2016

I am excited to be a part of this initiative to find ways to serve others over the Christmas season - 25 ways in 25 days. My daughter Julia, who is serving a mission for our church in New England, challenged our family to participate in this with her despite the miles between us. For the first time in a long time, I am excited for December.

If you would like to get some great ideas of ways that you can join us in serving others, there is more information, including a daily calendar for the month of December, HERE.

Here's what we've done so far...

Day 1: Worldwide Day of Service (Serve anyone, any time, anywhere, any way)

I took every available child with me to go help clean up my mom's yard. There is a giant walnut tree behind her house and a couple in her yard that scatter leaves all over her driveway and sidewalk. So we raked and swept and made it so that she no longer gets leaves tracked into her house. (And found 5 eggs amongst the leaves, left behind by her neighborhhod chickens which often come and kick bark from her flowerbed onto her driveway.)

Day 2: Honor Your Parents

I shared these memories on Facebook:

One of my favorite memories of my dad was when I was about a month away from getting married and I had a $188 fine I needed to pay, but not enough money to pay it. Without hesitation my dad gave me his entire collection of $2 bills and a roll of quarters to pay the fine.

A favorite memory of my mom was back in high school when my brother and I talked endlessly about wanting to go see REM in concert and she surprised us by buying us tickets. My parents have always been wonderful examples to me of love, service and kindness. I am so blessed to call them my mom and dad!

Later that day I took my mom some of her favorite treats.

Day 3: Help Others to See (See the good in themselves, the good in the world, or literally to see by donating a pair of used eyeglasses to a charity)

I posted one of my favorite quotes on Facebook to remind others that we are all meant to SHINE.

I also went out of my way to tell people the genuine, kind thoughts I had of them. Sometimes it was awkward. But who doesn't love hearing about the good you see in them? It always went over well.

Day 4: Find a way to worship

This day seemed almost too easy to me, because we attend worship services at church every Sunday. However, this Sunday was extra special because we were able to attend the blessing of our sweet grandson. (Allen had to leave a little early for some meetings so he is unfortunately missing from the picture.)

We were also able to attend our own church meetings as well as watching an uplifting Christmas Devotional later that evening.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

I realize it has been a couple of months since I have written and I thought it would be good to post an update. My mom has finished her first 9 weeks of pre-surgery chemotherapy and is scheduled for surgery mid-December. After surgery she will undergo another 9 weeks of chemotherapy and then we'll see where we're at at that point. Ovarian cancer stinks. However, I feel very blessed to live close enough to her to be able to take her to every appointment and be an advocate for her in her medical care. Cancer has to be my least favorite thing in this world.

That being said, last month my sister was also diagnosed with medullary cancer of the thyroid. She had extensive (6 hours) surgery to remove almost all of the cancer and is recovering well. She will start radiation treatments before long. Again, I am so glad that she lives close to me and that I can be available to offer support as needed. But I still wish cancer would just go away.

With all of this going on in my family, I find myself down quite a bit. I don't like to talk about it because I feel like people will think I'm being too negative and need to look at the bright side of things. Believe me, I try. I am able to find the sunshine in my storms about 75% of the time but some days it just feels better to let the rain and gloom soak me through and through.

That being said, there is so much sunshine to be thankful for. There are so many HUGE, life-changing events in our lives here that I am behind in writing about on my blog! For one, on the day my mom was diagnosed, my oldest daughter Elle married this awesome guy:

Meet Calvin, my new son-in-law. He is awesome. They are a perfect match and seeing them together makes me so happy! I love how much they love each other.

Also, my oldest son Allen TY and his sweet wife Kia gave us the best gift ever at the end of October:

Yes, I am now blessed with the much anticipated status of grandma. Isn't he the most perfect baby you've ever seen? In the moments that I get to hold him nothing else matters.

Another one of the sunshine moments has been helping design, make and rent costumes for my high schoolers' production of The Little Mermaid. If you know me well then you know that I have been obsessed with Little Mermaid for many, many years. (27, to be exact) All-a-Boy was cast as Sebastian and Cowgirl has roles as a chef, a lionfish and a flamingo. It is the most beautiful version of this musical I have ever seen and the amazing sets and costumes along with talented cast and crew are more than anyone would expect from a high school show. I have been to every showing and I am not even close to sick of it.

I had this fantastic idea the other day, which I would love for someone to take and make happen. I'm sure there are a good number of people like me who used to love musical theater in high school and would love to continue to be performing on stage, but life circumstances prevent it for now. All of my dream roles are ones I am too old to pull off anymore. So, I propose (for lack of a better title coming to mind right now): "Oldies Theater". We should have entire shows cast with "more life-expereinced" actors and actresses. Then we can still fulfill our dreams of playing certain roles later in life, even if we're "past our prime", so to speak. I think it's brilliant.

On a different note, I have been profoundly affected by the influence of music in my life lately. Including finding new, deeper meaning to the lyrics of many of the songs in Little Mermaid. I wrote this on facebook one morning when a song on the radio brought out some emotions I didn't even realize were bubbling just beneath my surface:

"Music is on my mind today. And I tried to find a quote that expresses what music does for me, but there wasn't one. I grew up in a home with two Deaf parents who both loved music. It was played at full volume for the appreciation of everyone in the family - a whole beautiful mix of oldies and songs from whatever radio station we were tuned in to. Some of us loved the beats more than the words, some just loved the freesytle dancing involved, but we all loved music. No matter where life has taken me, music has been there. It helps me to understand myself. It helps me to express myself. When I want to be happy I can turn to music. When I need to remember (or forget) I can turn to music. Sometimes music helps me realize there are emotions just under the surface that I need to let escape. Often the words of a song will speak straight to my heart, or the peaks and valleys of the music will express what I'm feeling. In that moment when a song is playing, I remember who I am or who I want to be."

Thursday, September 8, 2016

When you get the kind of news that nobody likes to get, the kind that stops you in your tracks and makes you re-think your ways and your habits and your life, the kind that helps regrets to surface and hope to disappear, it doesn't feel right that life goes on all around you as if nothing has changed.

I want to stop people in parking lots, in stores, on bike trails, at schools, and tell them what is happening. I want to tell them to stop acting like life is normal. I mean, how can everyone just go on doing normal everyday things when something so horrible is happening just under their noses?

Why do I have to keep on doing all the things that I always do - making meals, doing laundry, driving people where they need to be, shopping for food or clothes or school supplies or anything when all I really want to do is sit in my bed and read or sleep or eat copious amounts of ice cream or chocolate or nothing at all.

It seems unfair that I have to continue to act like everything is normal when it's not.

Sleep is such a beautiful escape. But then I have to wake up.

16 years ago this August my father was diagnosed with the worst kind of cancer in his brain and given months to live. Cancer in the brain. It makes me think of some terrible creature, living inside of his head, eating away at whatever it sees. Devouring his memories, his abilities, his life. He made it almost to the end of January.

16 years later, on the first day of September, my mother is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Stage 3.

I always choose to find the good in the bad. I always choose to find happiness when there is sadness. But this time it is not so easy. It is almost too much. I find myself crying when I least expect it. I no longer control my emotions, it's like they control me.

My brother told me that, if you think about it, cancer is a gift. I could have been told that my mother was in a horrible accident and died. Instead, we are given the gift of time. And it's true. More time with her is a beautiful thing. But some days it is hard to see beyond this cancer that has taken up residence inside of her without permission.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Around 30 years ago I would often lay awake at bedtime or wake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, with a song or a poem taking shape in my mind. I quickly learned that I would not be able to sleep until I woke up and wrote out the words in my head. The last time that happened was sometime before I moved from California to Utah.

Fast forward to Friday night two weeks ago, when it happened again. The sensation was familiar but it was an experience I had all but forgotten. It took me a while to realize that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep until the words were written down somewhere besides my brain, so I got up and wrote.

The Monster Inside

This shell that I wear
A facade, at best
Just houses a monster
Awake or at rest

(There is rarely any in-between)

On terrible days
The facade starts to break
And the monster inside
Is alive and awake

(It seems to have a mind of its own)

My guard is let down
As each piece falls away
The monster controls
All I do, all I say

Friday, June 3, 2016

Yesterday the kids came in from the back yard full of squealy voices and excitement.

"Mooooooom! There's a mother duck and a bunch of her babies in our backyard! OHMYGOSHTHEYARESOCUTE!!"

So of course I had to investigate. And sure enough...

They were so adorable to watch! Wherever Mama duck went, all her little babies would follow. When Mama stopped, they stopped. When Mama sat, they sat. When Mama walked, they walked.

I am not sure how in the world they ended up in our backyard, or even in our neighborhood for that matter. I actually saw a mother duck crossing a busy road with her ducklings about a month ago. Cars were stopped, there was traffic backed up, and I couldn't see why except that there were two guys in the road. When we started moving again, there they were - mother duck and babies waddling down the sidewalk, unharmed.

And because I know God teaches me in parables, I wondered if there was a lesson in all of this for me. Here's what I decided. Just like those baby ducklings, my kids watch everything I do. Their actions are a reflection of my actions. I love when I see them doing the things that I love, like music and theater and reading and writing. But I don't love it so much when they do things like put themselves down or speak unkindly to others. If I'm being honest, both the good and the bad are a reflection of what they see me do.

So, like this mother duck that visited our backyard for a while yesterday, I need to remember that my babies (they love being called that) are watching, listening and learning from every thing that I do. I'm not saying that I need to take personal responsibility for every bad choice they make, because they ultimately decide for themselves what they will or will not do, but I can try my best to be an influence for good and hope it guides them in their choices.

I love how you can see the duckling trying to jump onto the platform at :05 and the mom just waits for the little guy to figure out what to do. Then at about :11 he comes running in from the side.